Overview
- A package of penal reforms is now in force in El Salvador that allows life imprisonment for crimes including homicide, femicide, rape, and gang membership treated as terrorism.
- The measure applies to minors reported as ages 12 to 18 and shifts these cases from juvenile jurisdiction to newly created criminal courts.
- The law removes parole and early release and limits relief to mandatory sentence reviews after long minimum terms, including a 25-year floor for minors and up to 40 years if there are aggravating factors.
- The Nuevas Ideas–led legislature passed the changes at President Nayib Bukele’s request under a state-of-emergency security plan begun in March 2022 that has featured mass arrests and reports of widespread rights abuses.
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and UNICEF say life terms for children violate regional and international norms that require much shorter, rehabilitation-focused sentences.